I prefer cheese before the pudding, VB not least for wine pairing ease...and of course, in the necessity of cracking down on drunk driving we find hosting less than half our guests join us in a dessert wine and coffee is popular boh for people to take with dessert or for those who take neither pudding nor cheese.

If you ask me, Europeans have always been culinarily advanced than us peons across the pond. It takes decades sometimes to catch up to you!

Most restaurants here offer either a cheese or dessert course but if they are both being served, esp in the home, it would be cheese after dessert, often with teas and coffees and chocs. The cheese is routinely served with fresh or dried fruit, though it always puzzles me when restaurants here use only dried fruit. We have such an abundance of fresh produce available year round, and while having dried fruit on the plate is nice, it shouldn't be the only option here.